Fight pays off as library's Read It' video returns to YouTube

Abbe Klebanoff, director of public services for the Lansdowne Public Library and one of the creaters of the video "Read It," stands in front of the library mural in her office. (Photo by Robert J. Gurecki/Delaware County Daily Times)

LANSDOWNE — Mariama Mansaray got the payoff she was looking for Wednesday when she finally saw on YouTube “Read It,” a video parody of Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit single “Beat It,” that she helped produce and was lead dancer in for Lansdowne Public Library.

“I was happy. I was really, really glad. We didn’t work for nothing,” said the 17-year-old Lansdowne resident.

A senior at Penn Wood High School, Mansaray was one of about 16 middle and high school students who spent nearly two months producing the video to help promote reading. She had missed its premiere at the dedication of the library’s Ronnie Hawkins Resource Room on Nov. 16. Three days later, “Read It” was blocked from YouTube because of copyright issues with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

It was restored to YouTube on Tuesday after the video’s editor, Abbe Klebanoff, head of public services for the library, lobbied Sony executives and the Michael Jackson estate for a week to allow the video’s return to the Internet because of its educational value.

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Klebanoff received an email from YouTube at 2:42 p.m. Tuesday that stated: “Warner Chappell has released its copyright claim on your video, ‘Read It.’”

It was signed, “The YouTube Team.”

Warner Chappell executives who had administered the Michael Jackson music catalogue until August, referred Klebanoff to Sony/ATV Music, which now administers the copyright. Since Nov. 20, Klebanoff had been communicating with Sony officials and was initially told by a Sony licensing representative in Nashville, Tenn., that the library could not utilize the work in any way.

“A request was made to change the lyrics. That request was denied,” said Sony spokesman Jimmy Asci on Monday.

But Monday evening, after requesting more information about “Read It,” a Sony licensing representative told Klebanoff the video could be used on the library’s website, lansdownepubliclibrary.com, but not on YouTube, Facebook or any other site.

“A request was made to post the parody video ‘Read It’ on the Internet. While it is not our common practice to do so, we made an exception for the Lansdowne student, waiving all fees, because it is a well-intentioned effort by students to motivate kids to read. Their video can now be viewed by anyone with Internet access,” Asci said in a statement released Wednesday.

Asci said that statement refers to usage of “Read It” on the library’s website, not YouTube. He explained that YouTube polices itself for potential copyright infringement and has the power to block or unblock videos. Representatives for Google, owner of YouTube, did not respond to requests for clarification of its policies for monitoring potential copyright infringement, blocking and unblocking videos, by press time Wednesday.

However, the staff at Lansdowne Public Library is optimistic.

“It’s on YouTube and we believe it will stay on YouTube,” said Lansdowne Public Library Director Sandra Samuel Giannella.

Klebanoff sees the restoration of “Read It” to YouTube as a victory for Lansdowne Public Library and for the teens who produced the 3-minute, 9-second video.

“The kids have said, if you don’t see it on YouTube, it doesn’t exist for them,” said Giannella.

The YouTube posting will enable a broader audience to view “Read It,” including those who access web feeds from the Delaware County Library System and the Pennsylvania Library Association.

“I am appreciating that the kids are going to be able to see it. It is showing enthusiasm for reading by kids, for other kids,” said Klebanoff.

By 9 p.m. Wednesday, “Read It” had nearly 500 views. “Just UN Ban-It,” the 1-minute, 33-second video the teens and library staffers produced in an effort to get “Read It” restored to YouTube had 473 hits.

“I think it is a great message to stand up for what you believe,” said Klebanoff.

Penn Wood High School junior Taylor Shaw, who performed in and helped choreograph the parody that shows teens emerging from the library’s night drop box and battling with books, bookmarks and iPads, was frustrated when she learned last week that “Read It” had been blocked from YouTube because of copyright issues.

“We changed the words. It was nowhere relevant to the scenes from the (‘Beat It’) video. The only thing similar was the melody and we even remixed the song,” said the 17-year-old Yeadon resident.

“Big Daddy Snakeoiler” mixed and recorded the music for the video.

Penn Wood High School sophomore Armani Brown, who danced and sang in “Read It,” and has been a regular at Lansdowne Public Library’s after-school programs for about three years, was gratified by the video’s return to YouTube.

“Whenever I watch it, I just feel good, I feel good about myself. Me and my friends put hard work into it. The video looks good. I feel proud,” said the 15-year-old Darby resident.

Mansaray said when she learned “Read It” has been blocked on YouTube, “I felt disappointed and betrayed because the video, it was good. It wasn’t a bad thing. We worked so hard and were so dedicated to it. We were just trying to get the message around that reading on books or iPads, in the end, both are good things.”

Now that “Read It” is back on YouTube, said Shaw, it is going to enable “everybody to see it.”

“Just type in ‘Michael Jackson parody’ and it’ll come up,” said the teenager. “It’s going to get around.”